


Simon vs. a Junior Prom for the Ages

by Sonni89



Category: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 06:12:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13048152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sonni89/pseuds/Sonni89
Summary: Simon, Bram, and their friends prepare for junior prom.





	Simon vs. a Junior Prom for the Ages

**Author's Note:**

  * For [petragem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/petragem/gifts).



> Dear petragem,
> 
> I adore this book, I loved your prompts, and it was a joy to write for you. I hope you enjoy this. Happy holidays and happy Yuletide!
> 
> Many thanks to my betas, htbthomas and torigates, and to Kindness and T for the helpful suggestions.

“I can’t believe they changed their minds about the junior prom theme again,” Leah said. She sat at their usual lunch table and plopped her tray down next to Simon’s, just barely managing to avoid rolling her eyes. “This doesn’t happen at other schools, does it?”

“Supposedly it’s going to stick this time,” Abby said. “This is, what, the third theme in as many weeks? Ms. Albright finally issued a warning, though.”

Ms. Albright was in charge of overseeing the junior prom planning committee, and Simon did not envy her for it. Taylor and Maddie were not making it easy at all. They had already gone through a movies theme and a Hawaiian night one, and no one had been thrilled with either one.

“What’s the theme now?” Simon asked.

“Masquerade, supposedly,” Abby said.

“Is it just me or is that the worst of the themes?” Leah asked.

Garrett mumbled, “Not just you,” and Simon definitely noticed Leah’s small smile at that.

“Think of all the mystery, though,” Bram said, sarcasm dripping. “How will I know who my date is?”

“You better know who your date is, mask or not, is all I’m saying,” Simon said and lightly elbowed Bram in the ribs.

Simon still had to pinch himself sometimes when he remembered that he wasn’t only dating Bram—the kid from his English class he’d had a low-key crush on for months, even before he found out he was Blue—but that they were still going strong, honeymoon phase not even close to over.

“Please, we all know Simon’s just going to put on half a white face mask and go as the Phantom of the Opera,” Abby interjected.

“Ha, ha,” Simon said and flushed. That was exactly what he had just thought of doing. He couldn’t fool Abby either because she broke out in a grin.

“Knew it!” She pumped her fist and Simon rolled his eyes at her.

“I hope you show up at my door with a red rose in your mouth,” Bram said through laughter.

“I’m not sure I want to go with you anymore,” Simon said, but he couldn’t help his smile.

“Sure you don’t,” Abby and Leah said in unison. They knew him too well.

“I hate you all,” Simon said and turned to face his plate of mashed potatoes.

 

* * *

> Bram: But seriously
> 
> Bram: I expect to be wooed.
> 
> Simon: Wooed? The 1940s called, they want their word back.
> 
> Bram: Shut up. Is it wrong to want a little romance in life?
> 
> Simon: Are you saying there isn’t enough romance in your life? Because I feel like I may be doing something wrong here.  
>  Simon: Also, why are you the one who gets to be wooed? Maybe I want to be the woo-ee, not the woo-er.
> 
> Bram: Tough luck. I said it first.
> 
> Simon: Fine. You shall be wooed. You won’t even know what hit you. [winky face emoji]
> 
> Bram: Promises, promises…
> 
> Simon: Want to come over? I know a thing or two I could do to start the wooing process. My parents won’t be home for another 2 hours.
> 
> Bram: [blush emoji] I’ll be there in 15.

 

* * *

 

It had been a couple of months now since they started dating, but Simon still wasn’t used to having a real-life boyfriend. Especially one as cute as Bram.

Simon quickly tidied up his room, throwing worn clothes into the hamper and throwing away the wrappers of mini Oreos that cluttered his desk. It wasn’t like Bram hadn’t seen his room a total mess the first time he had come over, but Simon still wanted to try to make the impression that he wasn’t a complete slob—which he managed to do with varying degrees of success.

Bram rang the doorbell minutes later.

“Hi.” Simon smiled wide as he opened the door and wrapped Bram up in a tight hug. Bram hugged him back immediately, then pulled away and kissed him hello.

Simon closed the door behind Bram and pushed Bram up against the front door, deepening the kiss. Sometimes Simon wished he could just stay like that, permanently fused to his boyfriend’s mouth. Although that might be a little inconvenient, on second thought.

“Mmm,” Bram managed to get out, echoing Simon’s thoughts exactly. “Hi.”

When they broke apart, Simon took Bram by the hand and led him upstairs to his room.

“Bram is here,” Simon yelled towards Nora’s room as they entered his.

“Cool,” Nora yelled back.

Nora didn’t care what Simon and Bram did or didn’t do. She had her own life and her own stuff to worry about, so Simon never had to worry about Bram coming over. After multiple awkward conversations with his parents, they agreed that Simon and Bram were seventeen, almost adults, and as long as Bram’s mom was fine with it, he could be over even when there was no “adult supervision”. Simon thought the awkward conversations were almost worth it for the outcome.

Bram pushed Simon onto his bed the moment they entered the room. They continued where they left off downstairs, only this was so much better because they were horizontal now. Simon wanted to feel more of Bram, though, so he slipped his hands underneath Bram’s untucked button-down shirt, running his hands up and down Bram’s side. Bram’s hands fisted in Simon’s hair and they did not come up for air for a long time.

“This feels so good. You feel so good,” Simon told Bram, interrupting their kiss for a second before going back for more, and Bram smiled into the kiss.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Bram said. Simon pulled away.

“Not so bad?” he answered, smiling. “I really need to step up my game, then.” Simon kissed Bram a few more times, quick kisses on the lips, before angling his hands that were still on Bram’s body down, undoing his belt and reaching his hand into Bram’s underwear.

Bram let out a small whimper and said, “I take it all back, you’re amazing, please continue,” his words coming out very quickly in between short breaths.

Simon didn’t have to be told twice.

 

* * *

 

They lay in bed afterwards, facing each other, Bram playing with the hem of Simon’s untucked shirt.

“So, about prom…” Bram started.

“Yes? Does what we just did mean I get out of formally asking you to go?” Simon said.

“No chance,” Bram said, smiling at Simon. “I expect pomp and circumstance and maybe you riding in on a white horse...” He trailed off.

“Oh, okay, so glad there are zero expectations here,” Simon interjected.

Bram smiled, but then his expression turned serious. “But that’s not what I was going to say…” he hesitated.

“What is it?” Simon asked, now concerned.

“I just… Are we going to be okay, at prom? If we go together, I mean…” Bram asked.

Simon would be lying if he said he hadn’t been worried about this, too. Most people at their school were surprisingly chill about them, now that the initial gossip had died down, and the suspensions clearly helped a little, too.

“Honestly? I don’t know. All I know is that I’m not going to let some jerks dictate whether or not I can take my boyfriend to prom. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it. Together,” Simon said, trying to sound much more sure than he felt. “Okay? Our friends will be there, too. If you’re good with that, we can go as a group, though of course, you will be my date.”

He had noticed Bram’s smile at the words ‘boyfriend’ and ‘prom’ together and Simon was genuinely pleased that it still seemed to affect Bram as much as it affected him, the fact that they were boyfriends. It was really freaking awesome.

“I like the sound of that,” Bram said. Simon knew he hadn’t entirely alleviated Bram’s worries, or his own, but it was a start.

It was also good to know that Abby and Leah would destroy everyone that even dared to look at them the wrong way.

 

* * *

 

“Abbyyyy,” Simon almost raced down the hallway the next morning to catch her by her locker before their friends show up. “I need your help with something.”

“Shoot.”

“I need a creative way to ask Bram to prom. He’s expecting to be _wooed_.” Simon emphasized that word like it was the most ridiculous—because it was.

Abby nodded.

“Bram suggested I show up on a white horse,” Simon said, sighing.

Abby giggled. “That’s not a bad idea.”

Simon rolled his eyes. “Where am I going to get one of those? Horses R Us?”

“Fair enough. You could, um… What does Bram really like?”

“Well, soccer. And me. And he has the same sweet tooth I do,” Simon said.

“You could… bake him a cake and ask him on the soccer field?” Abby suggested.

“Hey, that’s actually not a bad idea… except for one thing. I’m sure you heard how the Great Baking Disaster of 2016 went for me.” Simon said and frowned.

Abby chuckled at that. “Do you mean the time you mixed up the sugar and salt, or the time multiple people found bits of eggshells in your chocolate cake?”

Simon rolled his eyes at her. “Do you see why I need help?”

“I do, but I’m not a phenomenal baker either. But you know who’s great at it? Leah, the queen of birthday cakes,” Abby said without irony. She genuinely liked Leah so much, and Simon thought that was the main reason Leah had warmed up to Abby as well.

“True. She’s been so busy with her band, though.”

“Yes, but we both know that even though she tries to hide it, she’s a romantic. She’ll definitely help you out. You’ll need her, too, if you want Bram to say yes to prom.”

“He’s my boyfriend, why wouldn’t he say yes?” Simon asked in mock outrage.

“As far as I know, you did not try the nightmare salt cake,” Abby said.

“Point taken,” Simon said.

Simon hated asking Leah for favors. They were still on slightly uneven ground after their fight a few months ago. On paper, they’d been absolutely fine with each other, but Simon still felt like he owed her for treating her as terribly as he had. Asking Leah for a favor was thus not his favorite idea, but Bram deserved a cheesy _promposal_ for the ages, and he certainly wouldn’t ask his mom for help. She’d be way too nosy about everything and make it a big freaking deal, as always.

As he considered this, Bram, Nick and Garrett turned the corner.

“To be continued,” Simon said and immediately switched to talking about their chem homework just before the others joined into their conversation.

 

* * *

 

> Simon: I need your help with something.
> 
> Leah: Umm... what is it?
> 
> Simon: I needed a good way to ask Bram to prom… Abby suggested baking a cake. And you know I’m not the best baker. Will you help me?
> 
> Leah: Understatement of the year. I still have nightmares from your salt cake.
> 
> Simon: Please? You’re amazing and I need you.
> 
> Leah: Ah, there are the magic words. Yeah, of course I’ll help.
> 
> Simon: When can you come over?
> 
> Leah: Tomorrow after school? I don’t have band practice until Thursday.
> 
> Simon: That sounds great. Thank you, you’re a lifesaver.
> 
> Leah: I know.

 

* * *

 

The next afternoon, Leah showed up at Simon’s house, ingredients for chocolate cake in hand. Abby showed up too.

“Leah texted me,” Abby said, and Simon almost gaped.

“The cake was your idea, you should get to be a part of it,” Leah said.

In that moment, Simon was so proud of her. He admired Leah for continuing to try and put her past differences with Abby behind her, and now she even included her just to help Simon out. Yeah, he really didn’t deserve her.

Leah and Abby immediately got to work in the kitchen, occasionally directing Simon to “pass the eggs” or “find a spatula”. They put all the ingredients together and then, finally, let Simon stir the mixture for a while and pour the batter in a cake pan.

“There’s no way you can mess this up,” Leah said. “And it’s your cake. You should at least do some of the work.”

While the cake was in the oven, they texted Nick and told him to come over. They’d need his help with the next step of the plan. He agreed when he found out he would get to eat what remained of the raw cake batter.

As they waited for him, Abby proved herself to be surprisingly handy at making figurines out of fondant, and Leah was excellent with a piping bag.

Their cake was almost a work of art. If there were a contest for slightly lopsided cakes made with love, Simon thought his would certainly be a contender.

They ended up with a chocolate cake with white frosting, decorated with Oreos and Reese’s Pieces, as well as figurines of the two of them with the words “PROM?” and a heart underneath.

Then, they instructed Nick on what they’d need his help with the next day on the soccer field.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Simon and Leah took Leah’s car and practically raced to Simon’s after school to get the cake, then they returned to school and met Abby by the soccer field. They did their best to sneak it in between them as they walked down to the middle of the bleachers.

With the cake safely hidden behind them in a carrier, they got up out of their seats and started yelling down to the field.

“GOOOOO, Bram,” Simon shouted, way over the top, to get Bram to notice him. He saw Bram looking up at him and shake his head. He was smiling, though.

“Faster, Nick, don’t be such a slowpoke,” Abby yelled down to the field. Nick frowned and a few of the guys on the team chuckled, but when Nick saw Abby making a heart with her hands, he smiled, too.

Leah just sat and watched the two of them, shaking her head. She wasn’t close enough with anyone on the team to heckle them, but Simon could tell she was actually interested in the game now that they all occasionally watched their friends and significant others play. He also thought it didn’t hurt that Garrett was down there.

“Score and you’ll get a kiss,” Abby shouted at Nick.

“Same here,” Simon yelled down, to chuckles. He was glad the soccer team was cool. Everyone on that team had readily accepted him and Bram, or he wouldn’t dare to do this. Once again, he was glad that if his boyfriend was going to be a jock, he was into soccer, not football.

Abby and Simon kept heckling the team, Bram and Nick in particular, until the coach ended practice five minutes early. They didn’t want the boys on the field to suspect anything, and heckling them was a regular practice they’d gotten into since they finished rehearsals for their play. Abby ran down to the field to give Nick two quick kisses for the two goals he scored. Bram hadn’t scored during practice, so Simon just stuck his tongue out at him and winked. Abby whispered something in Nick’s ear and gave Simon a thumbs-up. It was go time.

Leah helped Simon get the cake carrier up from the floor, and when Abby came back up to the bleachers, they grabbed the extra bag of things Abby had brought. They had enlisted help through Skype from Abby’s cousin Molly, the widely acknowledged queen of Pinterest. She had given them a few ideas right off the bat, one of which they decided to run with.

The team headed back into the changing room. Simon just hoped Nick would do his part—tell Bram that he had left his water bottle on the field and convince Bram, somehow, to help him come retrieve it.

They only had a few minutes, so Simon, Abby, and Leah had to work quickly. The sun had just set and the lights on the soccer field had been turned off. Simon was relieved it wasn’t windy that night and that the soccer field was protected by the school, or he wouldn’t have been able to do what they did next.

Between them, they lit around 60 tea candles and arranged them in a heart. They put the cake in the middle of it, far enough away from the candles to not ruin the frosting, and stood on the sidelines, admiring their work for a second.

Abby’s phone vibrated and she saw a text from Nick, who told her that they had gotten changed and he was going to drag Bram back out.

Abby and Leah hugged Simon and disappeared off to the side, past the school, making their way back to the parking lot.

Simon hid on the sidelines of the dark soccer field, just far enough off that he couldn’t be seen in the candlelight.

He saw the school’s back door that led to the boys’ locker room open, and two figures coming out. It was dead quiet now—all the other boys would exit the school through the other side, so he heard Nick clear as day:

“I forgot my water bottle. Help me find it?”

“I’m not sure why that needs to happen today or why you need my help for….” Bram trailed off.

He had just seen the lights.

In the gleam of the school lights, Nick nodded over to where he assumed Simon stood, gently pushed Bram forward, and backed away quietly. Bram kept walking.

Simon’s heart was beating loudly in his chest. He was actually pretty nervous about this. Bram was his boyfriend, but Simon didn’t know if this was coming on too strong, or if this was the tackiest thing he had ever come up with. Had this been his (and his friends’) worst idea ever? Watching Bram make his way down to the field were the longest 30 seconds of his life, and he could barely handle it.

Then Bram turned towards him and Simon saw Bram’s huge grin as he looked at the cake and he immediately felt a million times lighter. He walked over to where Bram had stopped.

“This is amazing,” Bram started.

“Abraham, my best boyfriend, will you do me the honor of going to junior prom with me?” Simon asked, completely ridiculously and over-the-top. He smiled widely at Bram.

Bram laughed. “Of course, you idiot,” he said, still smiling his beautiful smile.

Simon breathed a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding. He was being funny, but he had actually worried a little, probably for no reason. But… Bram said yes. He was going to go to junior prom with his real-life, actual, wonderful boyfriend. Simon snapped out of his thoughts, put both hands on Bram’s face, and kissed him like he was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Maybe he was.

When they broke apart, Bram took out his phone and snapped a few pictures of the display. He also looked at the cake again. Really looked at it.

“So, Simon, I have a serious question for you...” he started hesitantly.

“Shoot,” Simon said. Bram was still grinning, so he knew it wasn’t going to be anything truly serious.

“Did you make that cake?” Bram said, laughing.

“I… put it in the cake pan? Leah made the cake batter,” he said sheepishly.

“So that means we can actually eat it?” Bram asked and his eyes lit up.

“Hey!” Simon yelled, but there was amusement behind it.

“May I remind you of the salt cake?”

“Will none of you ever let me live this down?” Simon asked.

Bram pretended to shake a magic eight ball. “Signs point to no,” he said.

His boyfriend was such a dork.

He was an even bigger dork when he took a fistful of cake in his hand, carefully, trying not to destroy any of the writing or the figurines of them, but ensuring the piece had an Oreo on it, and smashed it into Simon’s face.

“Oh, I see,” Simon said, smiling. He took a little bit of cake, too, and did the same to Bram. They both fed each other cake and threw cake at each other, getting more of it onto each other’s faces than elsewhere, and laughed more than they ever had before.

When they were done eating and smashing cake in each other’s faces, Simon lay down on the ground of the soccer field and put his arm out for Bram to lie on. Bram sighed contentedly when he lay down.

They stayed there quietly, just enjoying each other’s company and kissing occasionally until a security guard chased them off the field twenty minutes later.

 

* * *

 

With only two months to go until their junior prom, Simon got to school to find out the theme had changed again, from masquerade to _A Night in Paris_.

It was all anyone could talk about at their lunch table. Supposedly, Taylor had begged and pleaded with Ms. Albright, who had finally relented and told Taylor this was the last ever change she was allowed to make and the theme had to stick this time, and decorations for the ballroom had to be ordered immediately so she couldn’t change her mind again.

“I was wrong,” Leah said. “This is the worst of themes.”

“A night in Paris? What does that even mean?” Simon asked.

“Lots of _French_ kissing?” Nick asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“That was terrible,” Abby said and elbowed him in the ribs. “You wish.”

“Ow.” Nick said.

“We’re all still going, though, right?” Abby asked.

“Well, I still don’t know if I have a date or not,” Leah said. She sounded just a little bitter.

Simon didn’t blame her. He knew Leah had been waiting for Garrett to ask her. He also knew, though, that Garrett had been working up the nerve to ask her. For someone who talked as big of a game as Garrett did, he sure was afraid of rejection. Especially from Leah. Leah, of course, took it as a sign Garrett didn’t actually want to go with her.

In that moment, Simon just really wanted to put them both out of their misery.

“God, Garrett, just ask her,” Simon said, and to make it clear that no one would come out of this worse off, he added, “You both clearly want to go with each other.”

Both Leah and Garrett blushed, and Leah glared at Simon. Oh shit.

Garrett smiled, though. Apparently the affirmation was all he needed, because he took her hand and said, surprisingly earnestly, “I’m sorry it took me so long, but Leah, will you go to prom with me?”

“Finally. Yes, of course I’ll go with you,” she said and hugged him, smiling so wide over Garrett’s shoulder that Simon just had to smile as well. Thank goodness she was smiling now and no longer glaring. Simon truly was a matchmaker extraordinaire.

Bram whispered, “King of meddling,” at Simon, shaking his head, but smiling.

“You know you love it,” Simon said.

“Do I, though?” Bram asked and blew him a kiss only Simon could see.

 

* * *

 

Alice came back from Wellesley for spring break. She barely got inside their house before stealing Simon away for a “fun road trip”, as she called it, with no further explanation.

It turned out she was taking him to pick out a suit for junior prom. As a rule, he wasn’t excited about the prospect of acquiring new clothes, ever, but if he had to shop with anyone, he wanted it to be his sister. She would make the least of a big deal about it. Alice drove them to the major rental store in the next town over from Shady Creek. He wasn’t actually going to buy a suit, and neither were his parents.

“How about this one, bub?” Alice asked him, holding out a simple black three-piece suit.

“I don’t know, isn’t it kind of… stiff?” Simon asked.

“Black’s classic. What do you have in mind? Floral? Checkers?” Alice asked, her eyes laughing at him.

“Maybe not flowers, but…. Oooh,” Simon said, picking up a white suit.

“No.” Alice said, deadpan.

They went back and forth, trying multiple different color combinations that Simon dutifully tried on. Nothing really worked. Finally, Alice pulled out a suit the color of red wine that Simon didn’t hate, and she got a black shirt to go with it.

He tried it on and thought he actually looked pretty good, so he was ready for his sister’s verdict.

Alice had a huge smile on her face when she saw him. “You look really handsome, bub,” she said. “This is the one.”

One more thing down. Only about a million to go.

 

* * *

 

Simon got dressed in his room while his mom fussed over him. There were a lot of “I can’t believe my baby is all grown up”s and “look at my handsome boy”s. Simon mostly hated everything about that, and very much voiced that to his mom, but he was also just the tiniest bit flattered.

Despite all their preparation, junior prom had really snuck up on everyone. His friends had spent multiple lunch breaks freaking out about arrangements, while he and Bram had stayed mostly quiet. The rest of them had decided it would make the most sense for everyone to get ready by themselves and then to meet at Nick’s at five. Simon had been less worried about what music they would play in the limo and more preoccupied with thinking about how many people would give him and Bram a hard time for going together, even if they were technically all going as a group. He knew Bram worried about this too. Knowing Bram, he probably worried even more than Simon did.

Finally, he was dressed. He got Bram a boutonnière that matched his suit. Bram wouldn’t tell him what he was going to wear, but he did say that dark red would match his suit just fine.

Simon told his mom that she could drive him to Nick’s and she’d get a glimpse of him and Bram together, and he thought she might combust of happiness.

Simon arrived at Nick’s and people were already congregating on the front lawn. Bram’s back was turned to him, but as soon as he spotted him, Simon’s heart skipped a beat.

Bram was wearing a royal blue suit. Blue was wearing blue. It was almost too perfect, Simon thought. He couldn’t get out of the car fast enough and almost stumbled over his own feet on his way out.

He tapped Bram on the shoulder. Bram turned around and Simon’s mouth gaped open. Such a great look for him. Simon had always known his boyfriend was hot, but this was, like, next-level hotness. The blue of Bram’s suit really made his dark eyes pop and he just… looked really good in blue. Simon very obviously looked Bram up and down, checking him out. He wasn’t sure how he would spend the night keeping his eyes or his hands off of Bram.

“Woah,” Simon finally said, and if he whistled, well, that was definitely an appropriate reaction.

“Hello to you too.” Bram grinned at him.

“You… look… wow. Amazing.” Simon eventually got the words out, but he didn’t think they did Bram justice. He was still a little dazed.

“So do you,” Bram said, and kissed Simon like he meant it. He was glad he had an effect on Bram, too, because it would just be too unfair otherwise. Formal wear—who knew?

They only broke apart when someone—probably Abby—cleared their throat.

“Any chance I can get you to show up in this every day?” Simon asked as he attached the boutonnière he had gotten to Bram’s suit jacket.

“And be the weird kid wearing a suit and tie to school? How about no.” Bram laughed at him fondly.

“Fair point. I will just appreciate this tonight, then,” Simon said and ran his hands up and down Bram’s back and side before stopping to turn Bram’s face towards him and kissing him again.

“When you’re done, Bram and Simon, we’d love to take some pictures,” Leah shouted from the other end of the lawn. “Also, your mom is still here,” she said, and giggled.

Simon blushed, turned around and awkwardly waved at his mom, who laughed.

“I guess we better go take some pictures?” Bram said.

 

* * *

 

Their limo drive over was weird. Their driver refused to play their playlist—instead, he seemed to love The Weeknd a little too much for his own good—but they finally made it to the ballroom at the North Atlanta Westin. They met Morgan and Anna and their respective dates at the door, and headed in together.

After checking out the decorations that looked just as tacky as Simon imagined they would with only a few weeks’ notice and an eternally changing theme, their group found a nice corner of the ballroom to stand in and chat. They were near the punch bowl, so Simon, Morgan, and Garrett busied themselves pouring cups for everyone and handing them out.

By the smell of it, the punch had already been spiked. Leah glanced at the cup, then looked at the group, and said, “Well, cheers,” surprising Simon, and everyone else as well, by the looks of it. Leah wasn’t usually one to partake in any kind of school functions or alcoholic beverage consumption, but here she was, at junior prom, by choice, with a cup of punch in her hand.

Simon smiled at her and dutifully lifted up his cup. Then he drank, as did everyone else.

Once he finished his punch, Simon was in a good mood.

“Come on! Let’s dance!” he shouted at the group.

Joining some of their classmates on a dancefloor that quickly filled up, they all got down to a Rihanna song. Simon hadn’t felt this free in a long time, dancing with his closest friends in the world and not caring one bit about how ridiculous they looked. Well, most of them. Abby was a trained dancer and looked amazing, of course.

The song ended and changed to something slow. Sam Smith, maybe?

Abby and Nick and Leah and Garrett paired off to slow-dance. Simon and Bram were left standing awkwardly.

“So, uh…” Simon said. “Do you want to dance?”

Simon saw Bram’s eyes wander around the room, undoubtedly looking to see who was there and paying them attention. Simon did the same.

“Sure,” Bram said after a moment. Yeah, Simon hadn’t seen any of their usual bullies, either.

Simon took Bram’s hand and led him a little further towards the center of the dancefloor, close to where their friends were.

Bram put his arms on Simon’s shoulders and Simon held him at his waist and they started dancing, a little bit stiffly and awkwardly at first, neither of them feeling truly comfortable with the situation—but when half of the song had passed and nothing bad had happened, Simon relaxed and he felt Bram relax in his arms as well. Simon dared to get even closer and then they were half dancing, half hugging. Bram threaded his fingers through Simon’s hair at the back of his head and Simon let out a contented sigh, resting his head on Bram’s shoulders. They stayed like that through the rest of the song and the next one, before the song and the mood of the ballroom shifted to something faster again.

The group decided to take a break after that to have a snack. The junior prom planning committee had ordered plenty of éclairs, so at least they managed to get one thing right with that Paris theme.

“So, now that all our planning for junior prom is done, what do we do next?” Leah asked the rest of the group.

“Now we start planning for senior prom,” Abby said, laughing.

Everyone groaned.

Simon turned to face Bram, smiling at him. “I’m just putting this out there right now, in front of witnesses. Next year, you’re doing the asking.”

Bram smiled at him mischievously. “We’ll see.”

 

* * *

 

Simon almost couldn’t believe that after all the worrying he and Bram had done, they were able to just be two teenagers in love at their junior prom. They didn’t get hassled, they danced half the night with varying degrees of awkwardness, and they didn’t see any of their usual bullies at prom at all. Even freaking Martin Addison smiled at them at some point and nodded a... he didn’t even know, hello, or maybe even an approval? Simon wasn’t sure what the world was coming to.

Junior prom was over and everyone was congregating outside the hotel, waiting for their rides. Nick’s dad came to pick the six of them up in his SUV, and they all headed back to Nick’s for a post-prom sleepover in his basement. Everyone changed out of their formal clothes, Simon giving Bram a mock-disappointed ‘awwww’ when he came back downstairs in his pyjamas, having changed out of his suit. Nick, Leah, and Garrett started a game of League of Legends while the others sat on the floor watching them play. They were all drinking Coke and talking to each other about the highlights of the night.

Suddenly, Abby’s phone buzzed. In the midst of reading whatever message she just got, Simon saw her eyes go wide.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Oh my god, pause the game,” she said loudly towards the people on the couch. “You’re not going to believe this!” She seemed excited.

“What happened?” Nick asked, pausing their game as he was told. Everyone's attention turned to Abby.

“You know those assholes that got suspended when they bullied Simon earlier this year?”

“The football players?” Leah asked.

“Yeah, them. Well, Taylor just texted me and apparently they got thrown out of junior prom half an hour into it. They got busted doing coke in the bathroom,” Abby said. She couldn’t contain her glee.

“So that’s why no one hassled us,” Bram said.

“Ha! Serves them right,” Leah added.

“I’m really glad I was nauseated all night long for nothing,” Bram said, and turned to face Simon.

“An excellent ending to a wonderful evening,” Simon said, smiling. He raised his cup of Coke.

“I’ll drink to that,” Bram responded, raising his cup as well.


End file.
